Game Notes

Game 12 • South Alabama Jaguars (6-5) at Tulane Green Wave (8-3)
December 21, 2017 • 12 p.m. • Devlin Fieldhouse (4,000) • New Orleans, La.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Matthew Graves (Butler, 1998)
Record at USA: 57-83 (5th year)
Overall Record: Same
Record vs. Tulane: 0-0

Tulane
Mike Dunleavy Sr. (South Carolina, 1976)
Record at Tulane: 14-28 (2nd year)
Overall Record: Same

LAST GAME
South Alabama used a big run in the second half to get past Eastern Illinois on Saturday, 63-52. Tulane rallied from 17 down at halftime to defeat Nicholls State 76-69 on Monday.

NEXT GAME
The Jaguars open Sun Belt play Dec. 29 at home against Georgia State. The Green Wave goes to Temple next Thursday.

ON THE AIR
Radio: 99.5 FM The Jag; J.D. Byars (pxp)
On the web: 995thejag.com/listen (audio); Tulane All-Access (video)

RANKINGS (Through Dec. 18)
USA: #279 RPI, #245 Sagarin
Tulane: #110 RPI, #119 Sagarin

THE SERIES
Tied 2-2.

Current winning streak: Tulane, 2 wins
USA's last win in series: 104-71 (1/26/74)
Last meeting: Tulane 84, South Alabama 73 (3/20/13)
USA's last win in Devlin Fieldhouse: 83-71 (1/27/73)
Tulane's last win in Devlin Fieldhouse: 84-73 (3/20/13)
USA's record in Devlin Fieldhouse: 1-2
USA's road streak: Lost 2
USA's longest winning / losing streak in series: 2 / 2

Notes: The two schools have met just four times, the last coming in 2013… USA won the first two meetings, including a 104-71 blowout win at home in the 1973-74 season before the Green Wave won the rematch 78-72 less than a month later in New Orleans… The last meeting was in 2013 in the first round of the CIT, an 84-73 Tulane win… That game is the longest amount of time between two games against another school (1974-2013) in school history.

OPENING TIP
South Alabama is 1-3 under head coach Matthew Graves in the final game before Christmas. The win came in 2015-16 at home against Rice, and two of the losses were to SEC opponents (Ole Miss, Arkansas).

On Saturday against Eastern Illinois, the Jaguars posted their second-best assist total and assist-to-field goal ratio of the season. The team had 15 assists on 21 field goals.

USA hit double digits in 3-pointers Saturday for the third time this season, and is averaging 9.3 treys in its last four outings.

The Jaguars lead the Sun Belt in scoring defense (64.2 ppg), are second in 3-point defense (.289) and third in field goal defense (.395). Nationally, they are 19th in 3-point defense, 37th in scoring defense, and 46th in field goal defense

South Alabama is 5-2 when scoring fewer than 70 points, and 6-0 when holding the opposition to fewer than 60.

In the first half in their last four games, the Jaguars are shooting 49.1 percent from 3-point land and 45.5 percent overall from the field. In the second half during that span, USA is 23.9 percent from distance and 37.6 percent overall. South Alabama is outscoring the opposition by 4.3 points before halftime and is being outscored by 6.2 points after halftime.

The Jags were credited with a season-high 11 steals against EIU, with four players getting multiple thefts. The team had 10 steals total in its previous three games, including a season-low one at FIU.

Rodrick Sikes had three of those steals, tying his career high for the second straight contest. He had three in the season opener at Texas Tech and three each against SIU Edwardsville and Eastern Illinois. He leads the team with 13.

Sikes extended his double-digit scoring streak to 10 on Saturday with 13 points on three 3-pointers. He leads the team with a 15.0 scoring average.

Trhae Mitchell made all four field goal attempts vs. Eastern Illinois for nine points. He grabbed a career-high nine rebounds and also set new personal bests with seven assists and four blocks.

Mitchell's seven assists are the most by a Jaguar this season.

Tulane already has more wins this season (8-3) than they had for the entire 2016-17 season (6-23).

Melvin Frazier and Cameron Reynolds are tied for seventh in the American Athletic Conference in scoring at 16.7 ppg. They rank first (6.7 rpg) and second (6.3), respectively, on the team in rebounding.

The Green Wave are third in the AAC in 3-point percentage (.393) and fourth in 3-pointers per game (8.5). Reynolds has a team-high 28 triples and is shooting 45.2 percent from distance.

PREVIEWING THURSDAY
Head coach Matthew Graves on Tulane
General thoughts heading into Thursday's game: "Certainly we want to finish this last non-conference game before Christmas playing better basketball. Defensively, I thought we did a nice job in the Eastern Illinois game. We made strides in our passing game offensively, and I want to see us continue to try to limit our turnovers as we move forward."

On the first half vs. the second half performances: "I think it's more about guys not relaxing. We talk a lot about not wasting possessions – we've got to not worry about first half vs. second half. We need to worry more about playing this possession and staying in the moment. Sometimes we get carried away with missing a shot or committing a turnover, and we let one mistake become two or three. We really need to stay more in the moment and remaining focused."

On Tulane: "They're playing extremely well. They present a lot of problems for us because of their size and length. Their shortest starter is 6-foot-5. They really have an ability to stretch the floor with their versatility and length. They have several guys that shoot the '3' at a high level. We have to do a great job of getting into them and contesting their shots, otherwise they're going to shoot right over us."

On defending Tulane: "They are extremely talented. Their starters play 35-plus minutes, so their bench isn't very deep. We've got to have a constant awareness of Reynolds and Frazier because they can get going at any time. They have nearly five guys in double figures, so they have a really solid starting five. We have to go in with the mindset of being very physical and giving them one tough shot."

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Join the Jaguar Athletic Fund (JAF) Priority Fund, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics. Contributions to the Priority Fund directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/give

—USA—